Purpose
or Abstract:
The use of primary sources creates an "active" way to help students
increase their knowledge of other cultures. A review of the
literature shows that students learn more, learn more quickly and enjoy
learning more when they use primary sources within the curriculum. They
also learn to consider different perspectives as they develop knowledge
and evaluate information from other countries. Students will be using
technology, print sources, pen pals as well as an exchange of “culture
boxes” to increase their awareness and understanding of others. In
addition, this project creates an interdisciplinary approach within a team
setting to collecting, analyzing and responding to new information about
cultures around the world.
Outline of the Research Project
Goal:
Using primary sources, students will actively
acquire knowledge of other cultures and establish relationships with people
and/or classrooms around the world.
Objective 1:
Social Studies
Using news stories from Internet sites, students will analyze current
events from the US perspective as well as from the perspectives of other
countries that are being studied.
Objective 2:
Social Studies
Using Online Virtual Tours and other pictorial sites, students will
“visit” other countries and cultures.
Objective 3
Langauge Arts
Using folktales, folklore and myths, students will read about other
cultures and recognize the similarities that exist around the world.
Objective 4: Social
Studies, Language Arts , Science and Spanish
Using E-Pals, World Wise Schools and other sources, students will develop
a relationship with people in other parts of the world and exchange opinions,
ideas, and knowledge.
Objective 5: Social
Studies, Language Arts, Science and Spanish
Creating “culture boxes,” students will share their own primary sources
with others around the world.
Objective
1: Social Studies
Using news stories
from Internet sites, students will analyze current events from the US perspective
as well as from the perspectives of other countries that are being studied.
This section will be ongoing throughout the year. As events occur around the world, students will access these sites to analyze and interpret responses from different countries.
The online news sources listed
below are all in English. However, for the more ambitious who want
to translate the news from foreign newspapers into English, the following
site can be used:
How
to Translate an Article Into English or try this
site at Alta Vista where you can paste in the article and then translate
it into English: AltaVista®
- AV Categories.
Asia
Because of the vastness of
this continent and a restriction on time to teach, two countries in Asia,
China and India, were chosen as the focus. These two countries
together account for 1/3 of the total population of the world.
China
Homepage--People's
Daily Online http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/
This is the official newspaper
of the Communist Party in China. This site will give you the official
position of the Chinese Communist party on human rights or Tibet or the
situation with Taiwan. At times, this can be difficult to open.
Chinese
Embassy in Washington DC http://www.china-embassy.org/
To get the official position
of the Chinese government, their embassy site is an excellent place to
go. There are also many topics and other links from this site that
are helpful. Under "Issues and Events", there are many topics of
utmost importance to the Chinese. Each topic gives the official Chinese
position. Under "Useful Links," there are topics such as "China's
Taiwan."
India
The
Hindu on indiaserver.com :Wednesday, April 12, 2000 http://www.the-hindu.com/
This is a national newspaper
for India. It also has a search section so that previous articles
can be easily found and compared to how other countries are reporting the
same event.
India
Daily http://www.indiadaily.com/
Another important newspaper
in India.
Sub Sahara Africa
Online news sources from sub
Sahara Africa are not plentiful. What follows is a sampling of countries
whose online newspapers are in English. As events occur in Africa,
these sites will be excellent to access and compare with Western journalism.
Daily
Mail & Guardian Home Page
This is South Africa's leading
independent newspaper. The paper covers the main events in Africa
as well as around the world.
DIE
BURGER, Tuesday 01 September 1998
This is the regional Afrikaans
newspaper translated daily to English. Although this paper is undergoing
changes, the English translation will still be available. An excellent
site for students to access as they look for differing viewpoints on major
issues, especially those affecting South Africa.
About.com
: http://www.nationaudio.com/News/EastAfrican/Current/index.htm
This paper is entitled the
"East African" and it is published weekly. It covers news mostly
from East African nations such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and
more.
About.com
: http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/Today/index.html
This is the site of "Daily
Nation" on the web. "The newspaper that serves the nation" covers
Nairobi and the rest of Kenya. "The Cutting Edge" is one section worth
looking at, particularly if you enjoy stories about government corruption
and other injustices.
About.com
: http://the.namibian.com.na/
Windhoek-based daily newspaper
from Namibia. The news section is updated daily, but other sections are
behind schedule.
About.com
: http://www.postexpresswired.com/
The mission statement of this
Nigerian paper is:"The Post Express" is an independent newspaper dedicated
to promoting the prospects of democracy and justice in Nigeria and to reaching
those who have not abandoned the faith that human affairs are best administered
in the spirit of reason and in a climate of true democracy. It is the first
newspaper with truly national reach and the ability to access and disseminate
international news on a daily basis.
Latin America
This region of the world is
also difficult to access local online reporting . Although there
are online news sources from many of the countries, most of them are in
Spanish or Portuguese only. There are only a few that are in English.
Below is a listing of the sites where one can go and get an English translation
of the news in Latin America. These sites cover local and regional
news primarily.
Buenos
Aires Herald - Argentina's international newspaper.
This Argentina site refers
to itself as "A world of Information in a few Words!" It is certainly
one of Argentina's oldest newspapers since it has been in existence for
123 years.
Santiago
Times: Index April 17, 2000
This site is concerned mostly
with news from Chile and doesn't have much about international issues.
About.com
: http://www.granma.cu/1999/ingles/gi-ing.html
Official daily of Cuba's Communist
Party. This link is for the English version.
About.com
: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/
This site is for Trinidad
and Tobago.
About.com
: http://www.belizenet.com/Reporter/Reporthp.html
This is from the country of
Belize. Belize, the Central American country once known as British
Honduras, is a relatively obscure place from a U.S. perspective. The weekly
Reporter will give a taste of what happens in the country.
Western Journalism
CNN.com
http://cnn.com/ or Washingtonpost.com
- News Front http://washingtonpost.com/
These sites can be used to
search news stories that occur around the world but are reported on by
Western journalists. Both sites allow you to search for news stories.
ctnow.com
This is the searchable site
for the Hartford Courant. It is interesting for students to look at their
home newspaper and note where the international stories in their
local paper originated. Are they taken from AP or Reuters?
or are they independently written?
Objective
2: Social Studies
Using Online Virtual
Tours and other pictorial sites, students will “visit” other countries
and cultures.
Students are to explore the sites below for the country or region they are studying. As they take a virtual tour of the area, they should create their own html scrapbook or hyperstudio presentation. Each picture or series of pictures should include brief textual information. Students can work with a partner or in a small group to create the scrapbook and then present it to the class.
The scrapbook that students create should use the 5 Themes of Geography as the framework for their pictorial essay. The 5 Themes of Geography are explained on the social studies site for grade 7.
A great place to start is to
use satellite images of the parts of the world that are being studied.
Here is an excellent place to start:
About.com
: http://southport.jpl.nasa.gov/imagemaps/wmap_Sep95.html
This is a clickable map of
the world where students can click on an area that they are studying and
then see what that area looks like from space.
A good place to start is in
Yahooligans where there is a listing of pictures from countries all over
the world.
Yahooligans!
- Downloader:Pictures:Places to See:Countries
China
China
the Beautiful - Chinese Art and Literature
What a fabulous site!
This site even has a slide show which shows some of the most important
art of China. There are excellent examples of calligraphy, a real art.
You can even add free software which will allow you to read Chinese. A
real treasure of a site.
Yellow
River Home Page http://www.cis.umassd.edu/~gleung/
This home page of the Yellow
river is an excellent site to help students see and appreciate the value
of the Yellow River in China. There are numerous pictures that show how
the river got its name. There are maps that also show the extent
of the river and why it is so important to China. In addition, there
are excellent links to other important water resources, such as the Grand
Canal, where there are excellent pictures to help students actually see
what the longest canal in the world looks like and how it is used.
The
Great Wall: Beijing Vista: China Travel: ChinaVista http://www.chinavista.com/travel/greatwall/greatwall.html
The subject of this pictorial
site is self-explanatory. Students tend to be fascinated with the
Great Wall and are always intrigued to see pictures.
China
Experience
This site has many excellent
tours and pictures of many parts of China. It also has a lot of good
textual information to accompany the pictures. A definite must for a virtual
tour of China.
UMF's
trip to China http://www.umf.maine.edu/International/BPU/welcome.html
Again, some great pictures
about many areas of China.
Searching
for China: a Full Web Quest
An excellent web quest that
encourages students to think and analyze China. The site begins with
an introduction that contains pictures of great sites all over China.
Yahooligans!
- Downloader:Pictures:Places to See:Countries:China
Wonderful array of pictures
from all over China.
India
About.com
: http://www.sacredsites.com/explore.html
This link is an excellent
source of pictures for India. There are many sacred sites that are
shown and each has textual information for an explanation.
Yahoo!
Parks
Understanding the wildlife
and the variety of terrains and climates is important to getting a better
"picture' of India. This site has pictures of all these things as
well as links to all the major parks in India.
India
Tourism and Travel - Government of India Tourist Office, New York
At this site, click on India
Online and then go to Photo Gallery. There are excellent photos of
important places. Most of the pictures are accompanied by brief textual
information. Also, go to Related Links and then click on the topic
Discover India for more pictures. In addition, the section entitled
Regions and States will allow students to choose sections of the country
and view photos that show scenery, cities, lifestyle and more. This
entire site is packed with information and pictures from all over India.
India
in photos - Indian Culture - Net Links
Many excellent links to pictures
from all over India.
Yahooligans!
- Downloader:Pictures:Places to See:Countries:India
A great site with links to
pictures all over India.
Sub Sahara
Africa
Photo
Gallery This site is called the Africa for Visitors Photo
Gallery. Click on Gallery Two: FACES OF AFRICA for an array of people
who live in Africa. Click on Gallery Three: KENYA and you will find
quite a display of pictures about Kenya. In addition, this site has
many links to individual countries
About.com
: http://users.erols.com/johnston/kobine.htm
There are many photos here
and text to explain an important festival in Ghana called the Kobine Festival.
About.com : http://www.africam.com/ This is a site of South African Bush Country and Africams that have live cams set up in many areas of Africa. This is best used to observe wildlife in their natural habitat.
Explore
South Africa - adventures, big five, Cape Town, destinations, Eastern Cape,
Free State, Gauteng, Hluhluwe/Umfolozi, Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga,
Northern Cape, Northern Province, North West, safaris, tourism, travel,
wildlife
Although this is a tourism
site, it has many pictures to show the potential visitor the beauty of
South Africa. There are many pictures, but most of them are small.
Textual information is limited to advertising the virtues of the country.
Nevertheless, there are a lot of good pictures that can be found at this
site.
Kruger
National Park Home Page
This site is packed with information
about the wild life in South Africa. Great photos and information
available.
South
Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana - a picture survey
This site has pictures of
cities, rural villages and more in addition to photos of the landscape
and the animals.
About
Images of the natural landscape
of southern Africa which are truly beautiful and very professionally done.
About.com
: http://users.erols.com/johnston/nav_arch.htm
A place to find Navrongo Architecture
of Ghana. Great pictures to emphasize the reflections of the people
and their spirit of independence.
About.com
: http://www.tmeg.com/artifacts/zimbabwe/zimbabwe.htm
For great pictures and information
about Great Zimbabwe, this site gives the historical background of this
ancient civilization.
Ethnic
and Cultural Villages - Africa for Visitors - Net Links
A great site to links that
tell all about the many villages and ethnic groups in many parts of Africa.
Each site has many photos that show the different ways of life.
Latin
America
Latin
America: Subject Resources
This site is full of links
to countries in Latin America. It has many links to virtual tours
of the countries which are full of photos. This site is done by a
research librarian and is quite extensive and complete.
About
Belize
Many pictures and good information
about the beauty of Belize. This site is written for visitors.
There are many links to other sites in Belize, most of which have beautiful
photos.
Belize
Picture of the Day
This is a very unusual day.
Every day there is a different picture of Belize on this site.
Mexico
Travel Information
This site provides information
on Mexico's tourist attractions. It has a clickable map which allows
one to select the area of Mexico to explore. Each area is complete
with pictures and information.
About.com
: http://www.interknowledge.com/argentina/buenos-aires/buenos05.htm
This is the home page for
Visit Argentina. It has a very good introduction and overview of
the main areas of Argentina. Each area has a photograph as well as
additional links. From here there are links to all Latin American
countries.
Barbados
2000 dot com Deluxe touristic guide about Barbados
This is the deluxe tourism
guide to Barbados, which is filled with photos of the island. From
this site there are links to every other Caribbean island.
Meu
Brasil by Sergio Koreisha - Brazil
A very extensive site on Brazil
with pictures and links to all areas of Brazil.
Brazil
Photo Archives
Photos from all over Brazil.
Objective
3 Langauge Arts
Using folktales, folklore
and myths, students will read about other cultures and recognize the similarities
that exist around the world.
There is a site which has myths
and legends from all over the world. This is an excellent place to
begin.
Myths
and Legends
In addition, there is an encyclopedia
about mythology online that has a searchable site.
Encyclopedia
Mythica: Home
Sub Sahara
Africa
Kruger
National Park - Tales from the African Bush
A great story about survival
in the African Bush. Students will love the adventure.
African
Oral Traditions - African Cultures
A great site to find all kinds
of myths, epics, flocculates, poetry and songs. There is also a section
on oral storytelling in the African tradition.
Myth:
Sub Saharan
This site is filled with links
to myths about creation, procreation, deities and gods.
About.com
: http://quattro.me.uiuc.edu/~fog/tales.html
The site is entitled:
Tales, Fables and Stories from Africa. There is an extensive list
of online readings at this site.
China
Chinese
Idioms and Stories
This site has links to many
Chinese fables, myths and stories. All of these are translated into
English. Included are stories about Confucius and his sayings.
Chinese
Myths and Fantasies
A very complete site which
shows how mythology is intertwined in Chinese history.
China
the Beautiful - Chinese Art and Literature
This is great site for literature
and poetry about China. There is even the story of Mulan at this
site.
India
Stories
from Grandpa
A collection of stories from
India that tell of its culture and way of life.
Rama
and the Ramayana: Lessons in Dharma
The great Indian epic: The
Ramayana Story.
Festivals
of Bharat
A collection of stories and
historical information about festivals in India.
Latin America
origins
From South America, this site
tells about the origin of the Incas.
82.05.09:
Mythology: A Study of Puerto Rican Myths, Legends and Folk tales
This site has the myth, The
Legend of the Hummingbird. The site involves complete lesson plans
for teaching the myths and folklore from Puerto Rico.
Children's/Teenage
- Fairy Tales & Folklore - South America
Although this site is just
an index to these books, it is quite complete and gives an excellent place
to start when looking for these stories.
Folk
tales
This site focuses on Mayan
tales. The stories are online are in English.
aztec
folk tale
This tale is entitled, The
Queen with One Hundred Lovers.
Objective
4: Social Studies, English, Science and Spanish
Using E-Pals, World
Wise Schools and other sources, students will develop a relationship with
people in other parts of the world and exchange opinions, ideas, and knowledge.
Objective
5: Social Studies, English, Science and Spanish
Creating “culture boxes,”
students will share their own primary sources with others around the world.